Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney. I do not own Halo or any of it characters, that are all belong to 343 Industries. Rated M for sexual themes.

Just One Small Spark

Chapter 2

Maria got herself strapped in and turned to engineer's station and thought it would in the alien's language, but it was in her language. Not the language they use in Zootopia, but the one she used when she was a girl. A cold shiver ran up her spine.

"Judy, can you read the pilots console?"

"I'm a bit busy right now."

"Please, it's important."

"Yes, it's in a Zootopian."

"Nick, how about yours?"

"Mine's Zootopian too."

"Mine's not. It's in my language."

"What does that mean?"

The drop ship lifted.

"It means they are way ahead of us. It means that they know it's me sitting here. It means they are into every computer in our world."

"Maria, you are brilliant," came a new voice. "It means that I chose well. And Judy aren't you going to say it?"

"Huh."

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers!"

"Oh God," Maria muttered. "You not one of the aliens are you."

"Well technically no."

"You're a computer."

"I am an Artificial Intelligence created from the flash cloned brain of Doctor Catherine Halsey who is the most brilliant scientist in the UNSC. She'd like you Maria. Maybe one day you'll get to meet her."

"Why are you here?"

"By accident. Please wait with you questions and let me get us into orbit. I'll answer them in an hour. For now enjoy the view." She made the front viewport transparent.

"Wow," said Nick.


The hour passed more quickly than anyone had anticipated. Looking at the stars and their planet from space kept everyone occupied except Judy's little brother who they'd found out was named Michael. Judy tried everything she could to calm him, but he just kept shivering. Then she remembered something she'd overheard her mother tell an older sister. She pulled her t-shirt up and put the little guy under it. He searched and soon found something familiar. Judy giggled and bit her lip.

"Am I missing something Judy," Maria asked looking up from her monitors. "I can always use a good laugh."

"Me too," Nick said.

"I'm OK. Just leave me alone for alone for now," she said and giggled again. "Oh!"

"Judy?"

"Nick!"

"OK. OK," he said and looked over to Maria. She shrugged.

"Judy, you tricked me!," Michael said indigently. "You don't have any milk! But I'll try one of the other ones."

"Excuse me, Judy I need go to bathroom," Nick said and hurried through the door.

"Me too."

She heard laughter from the cargo bay and thought her ears were going to burst into flame.

Leah looked at the two and shook her head.


Everyone had assembled in the cargo bay at the appointed time. A blue light shone from the roof and blue figure appeared. She looked at the 5 aliens and smiled.

"I'm Joan," she began. "First let me tell you a few things. We will be arriving at my ship in 18 hours."

"This isn't your ship?" Nick said.

"This is called a Pelican Drop Ship. It can be used for cargo or to land troops. The main ship is much larger and is named the 'Dark Star'. It is a Dallas Class Destroyer. It has been damaged and its 'Slip Space' engine is down."

"What's 'Slip Space'?" Maria asked.

"It is a method of faster than light travel."

"How far did you travel to get here?" Maria asked.

"We were in Slip Space for two years and from analyzing star patterns we are 10,000 light years from UNSC Space. This does not make sense since even being in slip space for two years we shouldn't have traveled that far."

"Who is 'we'", Nick asked.

"Well most of the crew are either dead or had abandoned ship, but two are still in cryosleep."

"What is UNSC?" Maria asked mimicking the unfamiliar sounds.

"It stands for United Nations Space Command."

"Why are we here?" Judy asked.

"First, I needed an engineer and Maria has one of finest minds on your planet." She blushed. "She hadn't graduated from college, but her IQ is…"

"Shush Joan," she said and her blush deepened.

"Really?"

"And I bet you thought I was just good singer and dancer, Nick."

"Among other things," he said and Maria gave him a glare.

"One of the crew still aboard is the Chief Engineer and I'd like you to work with him Maria. You'll have to fix the device he's trapped in." Maria frowned. "I understand the problem I just don't have the hands to fix it. Here I can show you a picture of him and hologram changed. This is actual size and he's just a bit taller that you, Maria." She stood and walked around the hologram. She thought he was handsome in a way. "They are called human and his name is Kurt."

"Human," Maria said tasting the word. "Are they predator or prey?"

"I think under your definitions they would be both."

"How?" said Leah.

"They can eat both meat and plants. Long ago human ancestors ate only plants and then they learned how to kill animals. Now they still can and do." Some of her audience looked unsettled. "On our worlds animals have no minds. Here I'll show you a movie."

It showed a human playing with a dog.

"It looks something like a wolf," Judy said.

"Humans call them dogs. They use them for work and companionship. They were bred from wolves. And this." The picture showed a red fox and a human petting it.

"It looks like me," Nick said.

The picture changed to a human child holding a white rabbit.

"It looks like me," Michel said.

The picture showed a Thompson's Gazelle eating out of a human's hand.

"How is this possible?" Maria asked.

"I don't know yet, but every intelligent animal on your world as far as I can tell has a companion animal on the human's home world."

"And humans eat the flesh of some of these animals," Leah said.

"Yes."

"I eat fish," Nick said and looked at Judy.

Then he put his arms around his bunny.

"Apparently some predators and prey get along better than others," Joan said and smiled.

Judy moved to sit on Nick's lap and put head on his shoulder. He squeezed her until she squeaked.

"I saw him try to eat Judy back at our house," Michael said. "He was biting her throat and she was moaning. But there wasn't any blood, but I punched him in the nose anyway. You better not try eating Judy again or else."

Michael shook his fist at him.

"Please just kill me now," she whispered to Nick and then burying her face in his chest fur.

"Later when we're alone fluff," he whispered back.


After the laughter died down and Judy's ears returned to their normal pink the discussion continued.

"The other is an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper," Joan said and the hologram changed. "This is Mark. Leah, I would like you to work with him."

She walked to the hologram and stared.

"You kidnapped us and now you us to help you? Why should we?"

"Because is about fourty-five days they will die."

"Damn it! I hate being forced to do things."

"Then do it because you want to help," Maria said, coming up to the Rabbit. "It's not the humans' fault they're trapped. I couldn't live with myself if I watched someone die when I could do something to stop it. Could you?"

"Damn you!" she said and turned away, but Maria turned her around.

"Come over here and we'll talk about it," she said, putting an arm and around the rabbit, and led her to one of the seats.

"What about us?" Nick asked, giving his bunny's ear a nibble.

"First, all of you are going to learn the human's language," Joan said.

"Me too?" Michael asked.

"Yes. And you'll probably learn it faster they any of the others."

Michael beamed.

"Are any of you hungry?" Joan asked and suddenly, everyone realized they were. "On the lower deck there is a kitchen and several cabins. You might as well eat and then sleep. Also, when you eat I could show some more videos about humans and some of their music.

"Yes!" said Maria and Joan chuckled.

An elevator door opened behind them and they crowded in. Judy's head rested on Nick's chest and his arms around her. The door closed and the elevator dropped as did one of Nick's hand – to her tail. That is a very erotic place on a bunny. She buried her face in his chest fur and bit him. She felt him stiffen and smiled to herself. Two can play this game. The elevator door opened and the other two got off. Judy waited and looked up at Nick. He winked at her.

"Come on guys what are you doing in there?" Maria asked.

When join the others in the small kitchen Maria was unloading her backpack on the table. Several containers were open and wonderful smells filled the room.

"Blueberries!" Nick exclaimed and reached for them. Maria smacked his hand. "Can't I just have just one?"

Judy rolled her eyes seeing her fox give Maria a large watery eyed plaintive look. Maria plucked one out of the bowl and threw it at him and he snapped it out of the air with his jaws.

"Nick, please go down that hall," She said appearing before him. "I need you get a few boxes. She pointed to the back of the kitchen. "Follow me."

Judy started to follow.

"Judy," Michael said. "Please help me up. The table is too high! And I want to see the food." Judy was torn watching Nick followed the hologram out the door. "Judy!" The compulsion to help HER KIT overwhelmed the need for her mate and she lifted him to her shoulder and stroked his back. "Come on Judy I want to see the food!"


The door opened, the light came on, and he followed Joan into the room. She turned to face him.

"This is all human food," she said. "On your right on the top shelf get the one in the middle. You'll need the step ladder." She pointed the back of the room. Nick retrieved it, set it up, and grabbed the box.

"That one is just for you."

"What is it?"

"Open the box and grab a packet." He did and studied the writing on it. "See the little ring. Pull it. It will make a popping sound. And when it's done the top will open."

He did as instructed and almost dropped the package when it popped. The packet started to warm, but too hot to hold. He watched a line on the side go from green to red. After a minute the top opened like flower. When the steam hit his nose he salivated so much he had to swallow. It smelled wonderful.

"Try a piece."

He reached in with his claws, snagged a piece, and popped into his mouth. For a moment thought he'd passed out. He found himself sitting on the floor with his back against the shelves. He finished chewing and swallowed.

"Nick, are you alright?" She asked and he gave her a nod. "What happened? Are you sick?"

"I'm OK. I never taste anything like this in my life." He stuck a figure in the package and it came back red. "What's this?"

"Barbeque sauce."

"And this meat."

"Just pork." He popped the piece in his mouth licking his figure. "It's an animal that humans raise for food. The animal exists on Zootopia and you call it a pig. Are you sure you are OK?"

"Yes. The pigs on earth are just unintelligent animals, correct?"

"Yes."

"I eat fish, but this…" He popped another piece in his mouth. "is just wonderful." He ate until he'd finished all the pork and then stuck mussel into package to get the rest of the barbeque sauce. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and began to clean his mussel.

Judy wondered what was taking so long. All he had to do was get a couple of boxes. So she went to find him. The first room just contained boxes and no Nick. The room across the hall had a bed with a desk which had a computer terminal on it. The room next to it was the same so she when across the hall and door opened and stood in shock. It was an armory with rifles, hand guns, and other weapons which she didn't recognize. She touched the weapons and found them all to be locked down.

Then she noticed metal box bolted to the floor and still open. The lid was heavy, but she finally got it open and found a handgun. Amazingly it looked like the one she trained with at the police Academy, but much larger. It would probably break her wrist if she tried to fire it. She found the safety easily enough and ejected the clip. The action was impossible for her to put back. Then Nick stuck his head in the door.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "What did you find carrots?"

Then he really looked at her. She was holding a handgun much too large for her. She pointed it toward the ceiling with a grin on her face and hip cocked. Nick thought she looked really sexy. Then he imagined in the same pose in her uniform and then without it. He dropped the boxes and stood before her. He went to a knee, pulled her to him, and kissed her. He wanted to make love to right there and then, but they promised to wait until her first estruses.

Judy felt her fox's hard body against hers. Then his mussel was on hers and a moment later her tongue touched one of his canines and jaws parted. His tongue wrapped around hers and part of her mind noted that he tasted different today. Somehow spicy and slick. It was only a small part of her mind. She felt the handgun leave her hand and then heard the action slide back. She paid it no mind. She only wanted Nick. Then the handgun dry fired and that got their attention.

Leah came to the open door and watched Nick go to Judy, drop to a knee, take her in his arms, and kiss her. Some people would see them as perverts and disgusting. At least Judy found some she could love and someone who would return it. Judy never found out why none of the bucks would date her. They thought she was too much like a buck herself. Even her foolish father called her 'Jude the Dude' and that had gotten around too. She'd felt sorry for her cousin and really should've told her. At least things have a way of working out. She smiled for moment, but then thought of her situation. No buck would ever want her. Then she noticed the handgun Judy held.

Her training kicked in and quickly relieved Judy of the weapon. Safety … eject the clip – empty … work the action – empty … dry fire. They were staring at her. It took them long enough! How could anyone be so oblivious?

"Excuse me," she said and went to the box that she assumed that Judy had found the weapon. She retrieved the cleaning kit, holster, and spare magazine, but no ammunition. "Thank you." She went to a table, sat, opened the cleaning kit, and started to disassemble the weapon. She opened a small bottle of oil, retrieved a patch, put several drops of oil on it, and rubbed it over each part. She found the ramrod and cleaned the inside of the barrel. Then she reassembled the weapon, strapped on the holster, put it in its case, drew it, and dry fired it several times. Then she turned to them. "The food is ready." She walked out the door.

"Nick, what have you been eating?" she asked and made a face.


The food Maria brought was good and the human food was interesting. Joan told them what each packet of human food contained. She assured them that the hotdog had no dog or any other kind meat in it. None of the prey would touch it. Another packet contained something called beanless chili. Joan suggested that Nick rap the hotdog in a piece of bread pour the chili over it. Nick was one happy fox.

The prey tried all the vegetables, but individual tastes prevailed. Maria found celery sticks delightful the way they crunched between her teeth. The bunnies thought they were palatable, but would rather eat other vegetables. Joan told them that celery took more calories to digest than what body gained after they were digested. She also told them that humans ate them when they wanted to lose weight. Nick winked at Maria and threw one at him which he deftly caught in his jaws and then quickly spit out in disgust. He took a bite of chilidog to clean his pallet. Various videos of Earth, its inhabitants, music, and animals were shown during the meal.

"Now it's movie time," Joan announced. "This movie is almost 600 years old. I've put subtitles on it for you."

The movie opened.

In the First World War and in the first time in the history of Man nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe and men turned to science for new devices of warfare which reached and unparallel peak in their capacity for destruction. And now fought with the terrible weapons of super science menacing all mankind and every creature on Earth comes The War of the Worlds!

No one would have believed in the middle of the 20th Century that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than Man's. Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our Earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely joined their plans against us. Mars is more than 140 million miles from the sun, and for centuries has been in the last stages of exhaustion. At night, temperatures drop far below zero even at its equator. Inhabitants of this dying planet looked across space with instruments and intelligences that which we have scarcely dreamed, searching for another world to which they could migrate.

As the movie played he felt Judy moved closer to him and shivered. He put an arm around her and she snuggled closer. He felt a chill run up and down his spine several times during showing. He only felt his bunny relax as the credits rolled.

"This was a just movie, right?" Judy asked.

"Yes. It is a very powerful movie even today."

"Do you have another one?" Michael asked. "It was great!"

"Yes. Maria, you in particular will find this interesting."

She cocked her head.

The movie began and eerie music began to play.

In the final decade of the 21st Century, men and women in rocket ships landed on the moon. By 2200 AD, they had reached the other planets of our solar system. Almost at once there followed the discovery of hyperdrive through which the speed of light was first obtained and later greatly surpassed. And so, at last, mankind began the conquest and colonization of deep space. United Planets Cruiser C57D, now more than a year out from Earth Base on a special mission to the planetary system of the great main-sequence star Altair.

Maria sat through the entire movie with her ears cocked forward. The movie was excellent, the sounds and music were incredible. She had to find out how this was done.

"Maria, what did you think?" Joan asked.

"Can I get just the sounds and music?"

"I can also give you a selection of human singers too."

"I'll set it up in the first room."

"Come on guys it's time for bed," Maria said scooping a sleeping Michael. "You two need some time alone." She looked to Leah who shook her head.

When the other were in there rooms Leah looked to Joan.

"The humans were at war, but not with other humans."

"Initially we we're, but in the year 2525 on the Planet Harvest…"


Nick eased himself out of the bed trying has best not to wake his bunny. She must have been tired last night – one kiss and she was asleep. He hadn't been far behind her. He watched her sleep for a while and slipped out of the room. He needed a shower and as he walked toward the last room Joan appeared.

"Good morning, Nick."

"How long did I sleep?"

"10 hours 3 minutes and 5 seconds."

"Are there any clothes around here?"

"There are some in the last room."

"Good, these are starting to smell," he said and followed Joan into the storage room. "So where do we start? We'll need clothes for everyone."

"Judy is going to be a problem. There are no humans her size in the UNSC. I have an idea at least for you."

Judy woke and instinctive reached for Nick, but he must have woken earlier. She stretched until she heard her joints pop. Then she stumbled into the bathroom and started the shower. The hot water felt so good. Then she heard the door open.

"Morning carrots."

"I'm in the shower."

"OK. I left a something for you on the bed. Hurry up for breakfast."

She expected him to make a wisecrack, but nothing. Last night he didn't even try to play with her. She though back and remembered what Maria had said to him that first night. She could never stop loving him. Then she remembered him touching her tail in the elevator. She'd didn't really mind what they did when they alone. But he was always so gentle with her – like she's made of glass. Even when they played their predator/prey game he was always gentle. With his jaws around her neck he could easily break it, strangle her, or make her bleed to death. There was never a scratch. Bunnies were tougher than others thought!

She got out of the shower and towed off, but she was still damp. She looked under the sink and found a drier which wasn't much different than then the one she used at home. She guessed that form followed function. She plugged it in and delighted in the warm air. Soon her fur puffed out and she smoothed it down or at least tried to. And the middle of her back was still damp. If Nick were here he'd delighted to help her and also to see a damp naked bunny. Oh she'd get dry eventually, but there'd be excuses, accidental touches here and there, and just a lot of staring.

She put the drier on the sink, turned around, and felt warm air on her back. She moved around and reached around to fluff her fur. After a few minutes she thought she was as dry as she was going get and she went to see what her fox had left her. Clothes! The underwear was just a bit tight in the hips, and from what saw in the movies bunnies were bigger in the hips than human females. Human females did have larger chests then female bunnies, but when female bunnies were pregnant their breasts did swell to feed the kits. She finished dressing and went to the mirror. Her fur was still fluffy and tried to smooth it again. She sighed. She was having a bad fur day.


She left the room and when to the kitchen. She cocked her head and looked at Nick. What was he eating? The plate contained something which looked fluffy and yellow. He was leaning back in the chair eyes closed with a smile on his face as he chewed. He reached down to another plate and picked something long thin and brown and popped it into his mouth. It crunched and he chewed very slowly still smiling. Then the smell hit her. It was burnt and sweet.

"Nick."

"Morning Carrots," he said not opening his eyes. "Want some breakfast?"

"Not what you're eating. What is it anyway?"

"No this isn't for bunnies nor gazelles either. The left like their tails were on fire when I opened the package. I think this is best thing I've tasted in my entire life." He opened an eye, looked around then at her, and grinned. "Except for a certain bunny." He said this in a whisper and winked. She ears turned pink and he popped another piece in his mouth. "It's called bacon. Here try this. He pushed his plate toward her.

"That's scrambled eggs which are fried chicken eggs beaten with milk. There are some graded potatoes and cheese in there too. Joan says they are very easy to digest and shouldn't bother your stomach."

She picked up the forked, cut a small piece, and took a tentative bite. She tasted butter, milk, potato, cheese, and a touch of onion and garlic. The other taste must be the eggs which she soon decided she liked and took a larger bite. Nick watched her eat for a while and then decided to open the other package. The pop caused Judy look up.

"What's bacon?"

"It's a type of meat that humans eat." She gave him the eye. "This is something called sausage." The package opened and he plucked one out.

"It looks like the hotdogs last night only smaller. What type meat is bacon?"

Nick, popped it in his mouth and was in heaven. Bacon was better, but this had more grease in it. Nick swallowed and licked his snout. Then he had an idea. He got a piece of bread put on some scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon. He took a bite.

"This is better than sex."

He leaned back in the chair and took another bite. It was better than the first. When he'd finished his sandwich he sat in bliss. He opened his eyes and looked at his bunny who starring at him with a smile. Had he said that aloud?

She grabbing his shirt and pulled him to her. She bent him back and kissed him hard until he had to breathe. She broke the kiss and took his throat in her mouth and squeezed. Nick moaned and he felt her hand on his tail. It moved up to the base and squeezed. His back arched and the bunny released him gently laying him on the floor.

"Wanta bet," she said and went back to their room.

He was going to need to take another shower.


Nick opened the door and stepped into their room.

"Judy," he said tentatively. "Joan wants us to come to kitchen."

"My handsome fox," she said entering from the bathroom. Nick backed up a few steps until the back of his legs touched the bed. Judy pushed him back onto the bed and hopped onto his stomach. She started to unbutton his shirt and then ran her hands through his thick chest fur. Then she started to unbutton her shirt and Nick grabbed her hands.

"Fluff, we can't."

"Really?" she said. "Just how many vixens do you have to compare. Five? Ten?" He looked away from her and releasing her arms. She had been only playing with him, but now she knew something was wrong. "Nick?" She leaned forward and took his head in her hands. "Nick? You can tell me anything. Please."

Would she understand? He wished he'd told her before. He took a deep breath and look looked into those beautiful purple eyes and touched her face.

"There was only one."

"Were you married?"

"No. I asked, but only because she refused."

"and you loved her?"

"Yes, very much."

"and she's…"

"been gone for 5 years now. I was so dead inside until I met you. You brought me back. I was such an asshole to you when we met. I am so embarrassed about that. Then I fell in love with you I felt even worse. And you loved me anyway. I really don't deserve you."

Judy hugged him and laid her head on his chest. He stroked her back.

"Nick." He knew this was coming. "What was her name?"

He pulled her up and looked into her eyes.

"Her name was Judith." He watched the tears come to her eyes. "I was ..."

"Nick," she said and kissed him.

"Judy, there's something else." Judy looked into his eyes. "We had a child together."

"Nick. You could have told me. I wouldn't have minded to help raise him. What is he 10 or 11?"

"He's 22 years old."

Judy literally couldn't speak for a minute.

"But your only 35 now! You were only 13!"

"No, I was 12." Judy opened her mouth and Nick put a finger to her lips. "Wait and I'll tell you the whole story. Judith was 27 years old and lived in our building. She was an invalid. I fell in love with her the first time I laid eyes on her. I did everything for her. I got her groceries, helped her around, basically I was with her all the time I could be. One day I came home from school and like every other day I went to her place first. I found her on the floor where she had fallen. I think she lain there since the previous day. I picked her up and got her into the bathroom. She had fouled herself several times. I stripped her clothes off a got her into the shower and cleaned her up. Then I could smell her. She was in heat. She went to all fours and raised her tail. I couldn't stop…"

Nick felt Judy's hand on his mouth.

"I understand."

"Soon she found out she was pregnant and so did my mother. I explained what happened and my mother actually brought her into our apartment and we took care of her. I went out on the streets…"

"at the age of 12 to earn money to support them. Nicholas Piberius Wilde I fell in love the handsomest smartest cleverest kindest fox in the world."

"Have I met him?"

Judy began to tickle her fox. Then someone banged on the door.

"Nick! Judy! Put your clothes on and get out here!" Maria bellowed.

They buttoned up their clothes and went to the kitchen.


"Judy so how did your clothes fit?" Maria asked as she and Leah continued to sew. "I sure glad that Joan was able to get that smell out of here. Nick, just what kind of meat were you eating?"

Nick had to bite his tongue – literally – to stop saying the first thing that popped into his mind. He vividly remembered Maria blades. He really didn't want to get on her bad side.

"Bacon and sausage. Both are made from pig meat." He felt 3 sets of eyes on him. "It's not like the meat came from Zootopia."

"Next time, please go somewhere else when you eat meat," Maria said.

"And brush your teeth afterward too," Judy said. "I can still taste it."

Nick bit his tongue again and this time tasted blood. He dropped into a chair and shook with silent mirth. Only then Judy realized what she had said and her ears turned pink. Maria smiled, giving her a wink and Leah only raised an eyebrow. Judy glared at Nick and took the seat next to him.

"So you're all here now finally. We'll be landing on the Dark Star within the hour. I thought you might want to see her."

"Her?" Maria asked. "Why female?"

"Well for one thing I'm actually the ship and humans have always used a feminine pronoun for a ship."

"Humans are strange," Leah said.

"Well, let's go up to the flight deck for a better view."

"Joan, Judy and I would like to speak to privately for a moment," Nick said. "We'll catch up in a moment." The others three filed in the elevator and door shut. "There is someone else I'd like to come with us."

"I will need more crew anyway," she said. "But I assume you are talking about your son Nick Fox."

"How?"

"Maria was correct. I am into every computer on your planet except the ones that aren't connected to a network. I can see through every camera and listen to every phone. There is something else that none of your people knows about."

She showed them a video of an empty apartment.

"That's my apartment!" Judy exclaimed. "How?"

The video continued showing Judy and Nick enter. They both changed clothes and sat together and watched TV. The video jump forward showing Nick and Judy in bed together.

"Please turn it off," Judy said more embarrassed than she had been in her entire life. "Why did you…"

"I didn't. I only found these videos stored in a huge server farm. Videos for that apartment go back over 20 years."

A new video played showing Judy's noisy neighbors. Another shows Maria bedroom with Judy cuddling with Maria. Another showed Nick's place again and Nick and Judy sleeping together. The last showed Nick as a child in his mother's apartment. Judy felt a growl building in Nick's chest.

"Every room in every building in Zootopia and every other city on your world has both video and audio bugs. But places like Bunnybrough don't as far as I looked. There are a lot of videos. There is a human novel written over 500 years ago where something like this happened."

"Why?" Nick roared.

"I know exactly why," Joan said. "Similar things have happened in human history too. The government doesn't trust its own citizens. Nothing this extensive has ever happened on the human home world."

"Can you help?" Judy asked.

"If the Dark Star was fully crewed and operational we could conquer you planet within a week."

"No. Could you turn the bugs off?" Judy asked.

"Easily, but do we want to do it?"

"Why not?"

"Then they would know that we know what they're doing. Also, we could possibly tell everyone on your world that they are being spied on. What do you think would happen if everyone on your world knew they were being spied on for their entire lives?"

"There'd be a revolution that no one could stop," Nick said his rage only now cooling a small bit. "Maybe you ought tell everyone and let it happen."

"Nick, we can't. So many people would die."

He dropped to his knees and took his lover's face in his hands.

"My entire life is somewhere on a computer. I told you what happened when I was a child in scouts. Every time I made love to Judith. Every time you and I have been together. And after we had gotten married any sick bastard who had access to these videos could watch us be together. Judy, we're slaves and didn't even know it. Joan, what would it take to crew the Dark Star and repair it?"

"At the minimum 1000 people, but to repair it completely at the level of your civilization would be almost impossible. Maybe if we got crew and repaired some critical systems we could explore and find another more advanced civilization that could help us. Also, I think I underestimated what would happen with your disappearance. Maria disappearance has caused a firestorm. We need to get to the flight deck now. And Nick I can get your son up here."

"We need to tell the others too."